Personal sanitation device

ABSTRACT

A personal sanitation device comprises a container, a substrate disposed within the container and a disinfecting agent carried by the substrate. The personal sanitation device is utilized by the user, for example, by inserting a portion of their body into the container to contact the substrate. The disinfecting agent is transferred from the substrate to the inserted body portion to sanitize that portion of the user. Objects may also be placed within the container to come in contact with the substrate so as to have the disinfecting agent transferred to said objects, thereby disinfecting them.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to systems and methods whichenhance sanitary conditions for individuals. More particularly, thepresent invention is a device for facilitating the immediatedisinfection of a portion of user's body, after exposure to potentiallyinfectious environments, in a manner that is both effective anddiscreet. In such a personal encounter for example, in church/at asocial setting and one encounters a potential infectious occasion, howto deal with the hazard in a discreet but effective manner.

BACKGROUND

There is a direct correlation between the rise of modern civilizationand the increase in sanitary awareness and practices among individuals.Modern medicinal techniques and pharmaceuticals have eradicated manydiseases which have ravaged human societies for many millennia.Antibiotics, aspirin, current generation drugs, scanning equipment,blood analysis techniques and modern operating procedures have greatlyreduced mortality rates and increased life expectancies.

Although modern medicinal techniques and pharmaceuticals have madetremendous strides toward eliminating countless diseases, humanscontinue to face many health threats. These health threats range fromthe rare to the commonplace; and from the deadly to the simplyinconvenient. It is becoming increasingly difficult to battle thesethreatening diseases largely because many of them are caused bycross-species migrations of common diseases or new mutant strains of olddiseases. Even ubiquitous threats such as common colds are becomingstronger and more resistant to treatment.

Although many diseases are transmitted via the air, via the co-minglingof blood sources, or via sexual intercourse, most diseases aretransmitted by simple physical contact, either directly or through anintermediary. For example, a disease infected individual, by merelytouching an object, may thereby infect that object. As subsequentindividuals come into contact with the infected object, they too willbecome infected, and so on. This chain of infection continues as long asthere are infected individuals coming into contact with inanimateobjects, other people, plants or animals. In fact, given today'ssociety, a single infected person can infect hundreds or even thousandsof objects or other people in a relatively small amount of time.

One of the drawbacks of such a mass spread of a disease includes theincreased probability that the disease will mutate into differentstrains as it spreads and migrates away from its original source. Thus,although an individual may typically gain immunity as a result ofexperiencing and effectively overcoming a disease, if the individual isexposed to a new or different strain of the original disease, thatindividual will once again become infected. It is often very difficultto break an infection, recovery, mutation, re-infection chain. Suchchains of infection take a heavy toll upon both individuals and societyin terms of physical, mental and economic devastation.

Many manufacturers have preyed upon society's fears of diseases byheightening awareness of the many causes of infectious diseases. It hasbecomes commonplace to observe commercials and advertisements whichpitch products that disinfect individuals or objects. An extremelypopular example of such a product includes anti-bacterial soaps. Thesesoaps, commonly in liquid form and dispensed from a plastic containervia a hand-pump, are advertised to kill almost all common forms ofbacteria. Although somewhat effective, these products have a drawback inthat access to a source of running water is also necessary.

More recently, sanitizing hand washes have been introduced which,although are dispersed in liquid form, do not require access to runningwater. These sanitizing liquids are spread by a user across an area tobe disinfected, such as the user's hands. Since these sanitizing liquidsare alcohol-based, they quickly evaporate after they are applied. Itdoes not require removal by other means, such as by running water.

Although many clever schemes have been devised to sanitize body portionsof individuals, namely their hands, such schemes are eitherinconvenient, or are socially unacceptable to implement in an expedientmanner. For example, if a first individual were exposed to anotherindividual during a handshake and that other individual is suspected ofbeing disease infected, it would be extremely inconvenient and sociallyunacceptable for the first individual to dash out of the room todisinfect his hands immediately after the handshake.

Accordingly, it is desirable to have a socially responsible, discreetyet expedient and effective method for disinfecting portions of a user.

SUMMARY

The present invention is a method and apparatus for expediently,discretely and effectively sanitizing a portion of a user's body withoutthe need for water rinse or other accompanying treatment. A flexiblecontainer having a chamber contains a flexible substrate having adisinfecting agent infused throughout. The flexible container preferablyhas a re-sealable opening such that the disinfecting agent may not exitthe container. The disinfecting agent may be liquid, gaseous or solid,such as powder or the like, and may be infused in the substrate eitherthroughout the entire substrate or on the surface of the substrate.

The outside of the container may be equipped with a fastening means toconveniently fasten the container to a desired part of an individual orto an individual's clothing or handbag. A user desiring to disinfect aportion of his body will place that portion of his body into the chamberto expose that portion to the disinfecting agent. Once the disinfectingagent is transferred to the portion of the body, that portion is removedand the container is re-sealed such that the disinfecting agent may notescape from the chamber. Preferably, the container is reusable, wherebyenough of the agent is infused onto the substrate for several doses, ormay be rechargeable such that a depleted substrate may be removed andreplaced by a new substrate.

In an alternative embodiment, a chamber may include differentsubstrates; multiple chambers may be provided, each having a differentsubstrate; or a single substrate may have multiple disinfecting agentsinfused therein in order to disinfect different and complex diseases.The substrates may be selectively tailored with disinfecting agentsdepending upon the expected disease to which the individual is most liketo be exposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal sanitation device inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a user utilizing the personal sanitationdevice in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for both setting up the personalsanitation device and utilizing the personal sanitation device inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with reference to the drawingfigures wherein like numerals represent like elements throughout.

Referring to FIG. 1, a personal sanitation device 10 made in accordancewith the teachings of the present invention is shown. In its simplestembodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the personal sanitation device 10comprises a container 12 having a chamber 14, a re-sealable opening 16and a substrate 18 having a disinfecting or anti-bacterial agent infusedtherein 20. A fastening means 22 is preferable coupled to the outside ofthe container 12.

The container 12 may be any type of flexible or inflexible receptaclefor both supporting the substrate 18 and containing the disinfectingagent 20. The shape, consistency and resiliency of the container 12 mayvary depending upon the type of substrate 18 and/or the consistency ofthe disinfectant 20 used. Since, the disinfectant 20 may be in liquid,powder, solid, gaseous or various other forms, the container 12 must becapable of accommodating such various forms and ensuring that thedisinfectant 20 does not escape from the chamber 14 and become anuisance and/or hazard to the user. With regard to the substrate 18, thecontainer 12 need only support the substrate 18 in a manner whichfacilitates transfer of the disinfecting agent 20 to a portion of auser's body. Although the present invention may be utilized to disinfectany portion of a users' body, the following embodiments shall bedescribed with reference to disinfecting a user's hands. It should beunderstood that such a reference should in no way be interpreted aslimiting the scope of the present invention.

In an alternate embodiment, the container 12 is made of a flexiblematerial, such as Mylar®, for example, which allows for a water-proof,vapor-proof and/or particulate-proof chamber 14. As shown in FIG. 1, thecontainer 12 is constructed with a plurality of walls 26 a, 26 b, abottom 28, and a re-sealable opening 16 that when sealed, properlycontains the disinfecting agent 20 and support the substrate 18.

The re-sealable opening 16 is preferred as it provides convenient accessto the disinfecting agent 20 while also preventing the agent's 20 escapefrom the container 12 at undesirable times or locations. The re-sealableopening 16 includes opposing complimentary fasteners 30 a, 30 b, one oneach wall 26 a, 26 b, respectively, which cooperate to urge there-sealable opening 16 closed. The opposing complementary fasteners 30 aand 30 b may be comprised of strips of magnetic material, a hook andloop type fastener (e.g., Velcro®), a draw-string, a zipper, a plasticsnap-lock seal, or the like. The re-sealable opening 16 may also beconfigured without any re-sealing means. For example, if the substrate18 and the disinfecting agent 20 are not prone to accidentally escapingthrough the re-sealable opening 16, such re-sealing means may not benecessary.

The substrate 18 preferable comprises a type of cloth, or absorbentmaterial, which is flexible enough to conform to the contours of auser's hand, while providing a sturdy carrier for the disinfecting agent20. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, for example, the substrate 18 isa woven cloth infused with a liquid disinfecting agent 20 such that thesubstrate 18 remains moist to the touch.

Optionally, the substrate 18 is adhered or fixed in some manner to theinside surface areas of the chamber 14. Such adhesion permits a user to,for example, disinfect all sides of his hand simultaneously because onceinserted into the chamber 14, the user's hand will be contacted on allsides by the substrate 18, thereby transferring the disinfecting agent20 from the substrate 18 onto the hand. Additionally, as shown in FIG.2, the substrate 18 may have a plurality of baffles 50 a-f, (orruffles), which define a plurality of individual sub-chambers 52 a-c orit may have a web-like consistency for retaining disinfecting agent 20.Each of these different forms of the substrate 18 will have particularadvantages depending upon the form of the disinfecting agent 20 and thedesired form of the personal sanitation device 10.

Referring again to FIG. 2, as a user inserts his or her hand into thedevice 10, which is shown in phantom as indicated by the dashed line,the individual's fingers 56 a-e are inserted into individual chambers 52a-c. Accordingly, the baffles 50 a-f of the substrate 58 in thisembodiment conform to the fingers 56 a-e of the individual's hand 54 inorder to transfer the disinfecting agent (not shown) from the substrate58 to the hand 54.

If a user desires to have a personal sized version of the sanitationdevice disclosed herein (i.e., a device with an extremely thin profile),a single layer of Mylar®, for example, and a thin cloth having thedisinfecting agent disposed thereon will accommodate the user's desire.Although using a single layer substrate to disinfect is not ideal, auser may wish to sacrifice the efficiency of having a multi-layersubstrate for discreteness in the form of a slim and easily concealablesanitation device. Alternatively, if it is imperative that thedisinfecting agent be efficiently transferred onto a user's bodyportion, a web-like or sponge-like substrate may be utilized havingdisinfectant in liquid form which will soak a user's desired bodyportion with the liquid disinfectant. The form and construction of thesubstrate is not central to the present invention, it is only necessarythat the disinfecting agent be transferred efficiently and as completelyas possible from the substrate to the hand of the user.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the fastening means 22, which is optional,provides an effective manner of securing the disinfecting device 10 to auser or a user's property. Although shown in the form of a hook, thefastening means 22 may also be in the form of a temporary adhesive or ahook-and-loop-type fastener. Such fastening means are preferable in anembodiment wherein the personal sanitation device 10 is employed, forexample, in a pocket of a user. The fastening means 22 may also be amechanical fastener such as a safety pin or bobby pin. In essence, thefastening means 22 may be any type of fastener that secures thedisinfecting device, preferably in a temporary manner, to an insidepocket of a user, to an inside portion of a user's handbag, or to anyother discrete location selected by the user. Alternatively, thesecuring means may be a permanent fastener such as glue or thread tothereby permanently fasten the personal sanitation device 22 to userselected location.

In an alternate embodiment, a disinfecting device in accordance with thepresent invention is tailored specifically to a portion of a user's bodywhich is desired to be disinfected. For example, referring back to FIG.2, disinfecting device 10 is specifically configured to disinfect auser's hand 54. This personal sanitation device 10 can be inserted andtemporarily fastened to the inside pocket or handbag of a user. When theuser desires to disinfect his hand 54, the hand 54 is inserted into thechamber 60, thereby contacting the substrate 58. A disinfecting agent isthen efficiently transferred from the substrate 58 to the user's hand54.

Referring to FIG. 3, a method 100 in accordance with the presentinvention is shown. The method 100 commences with providing a containersuitable for holding a disinfecting agent and supporting a substrate(step 102). The substrate is inserted into the container and optionallyaffixed therein in step 104. The disinfecting agent is then infusedthroughout the substrate (step 106). It should be noted that steps 104and 106 may be interchanged without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. For example, the substrate may be infused witha disinfecting agent prior to being inserted into a container.

The opening of the chamber is then closed or sealed as appropriate (step108). When a user desires to utilize the disinfecting device, the useropens the container (step 110), inserts a desired portion of his body(or an object) into the container and provides as much contact betweenthe body portion or the object and the substrate as possible (step 112).The disinfecting agent is then transferred from the substrate to theinserted portion of the user's body or object (step 114), therebyapplying the disinfecting agent.

It should be noted that steps 102-108 relate to preparing for the use asanitation device in accordance with the present invention and steps110-114 relate to actually utilizing the sanitation device. Steps102-108 may be repeated each time a substrate is depleted of itsdisinfecting agent.

Although the present invention has been described in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, and that variouschanges can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention, which is defined by the attached claims.

1. A personal sanitation device comprising: a container; a substratedisposed within said container; and a disinfecting agent infused intosaid substrate, whereby a portion of the disinfecting agent istransferred onto an object each time the object contacts the substrate.2. The sanitation device of claim 1 wherein the container is made of aflexible material capable of contouring about the object.
 3. Thesanitation device of claim 1 wherein the container further comprises afastening means for temporarily fastening the device to a user'sclothing or to an object.
 4. The sanitation device of claim 1 whereinthe container further comprises a re-sealable opening.
 5. The sanitationdevice of claim 4 wherein the re-sealable opening has a resealing meansselected from the group consisting of magnetic strips, a hook-and-loopfastener, a draw-string, a zipper, and a snap-lock seal.
 6. Thesanitation device of claim 1 wherein the substrate covers all interiorsurfaces of the container.
 7. The sanitation device of claim 6 whereinsubstrate is removable.
 8. The sanitation device of claim 6 wherein thesubstrate is permanently adhered to the inside of the container.
 9. Thesanitation device of claims 7 wherein the substrate can be re-infusedwith the disinfecting agent once said disinfecting agent is depletedfrom said substrate.
 10. The sanitation device of claim 1 wherein thesubstrate further comprises a plurality of baffles wherein the bafflesdefine a plurality of sub-chambers for carrying the disinfecting agent.11. The sanitation device of claim 1 wherein the multiple substrates aredisposed in the container, each substrate infused with a different typeof disinfecting agent.
 12. The sanitation device of claim 1 wherein thedisinfecting agent is a liquid.
 13. The sanitation device of claim 1wherein the disinfecting agent is a suspension.
 14. The sanitationdevice of claim 1 wherein the disinfecting agent is a gas.
 15. Thesanitation device of claim 1 wherein the disinfecting agent is a powder.16. A method for discretely sanitizing an object, the method comprising:(a) providing a container wherein said container is suitable for holdinga substrate infused with a disinfecting agent; (b) inserting a substrateinto the container; (c) adhering the substrate to interior surfaces ofthe container; (d) infusing a disinfecting agent into the substrate; (e)inserting an object to be disinfected into the container; and (f)contacting the inserted object with the substrate with enough force torelease the disinfecting agent onto the inserted object.
 17. The methodof claim 16 wherein step (d) occurs before step (c).
 18. The method ofclaim 16 wherein step (b) further comprises permanently adhering thesubstrate to interior surfaces of the container.